AUSTIN, Texas — Cadets got ready to run Wednesday morning as the Austin Police Department welcomed its 147th cadet class with the "Chief's Run" tradition starting at 7 a.m.
Thirty-three cadets joined Assistant Police Chief James Mason and other assistant chiefs for a run around downtown to focus on unity within the community and department. The run began at the south end of the Congress Avenue Bridge and was expected to end at the Texas Capitol's Peace Officers Memorial.
"This is an amazing city. I'm biased, obviously, but I think it deserves great officers and a group of officers that represent the city itself. So I'm excited to be a part of that and be a positive impact in the future," Cadet Becca Buell said.
Back in March, APD reported it was short 288 sworn staff members. As a result, more than 1,400 officers have worked overtime since the end of September.
APD officials say they're trying to run smaller cadet classes more often to be more competitive.
"The number of cadets going into the classes is much smaller as we try to shift to a model where we're running more classes more frequently. A lot of the research on it shows the largest predictor of whether a person will join your agency or not is the number of days from the offer and probably academy class starts," said Dr. Jonathan Kringen with the APD.
The cadets will be commissioned during graduation ceremonies on Friday, May 19, at 6 p.m. at the Bannockburn Church.